Millions of people struggle with appetite control and eating disturbances—but food addictions cannot be resolved with willpower alone. Those who suffer from chronic overeating- or as often referred to “binge eating”, are left on an anguishing rollercoaster ride of difficult emotions, social challenges, and destructive physical consequences.

Years ago as a child at the circus, I watched as a man kept one, then two, then three, four and five spinning plates aloft on sticks. As fascinated as I was by the spinning of the spinning plates, I was mesmerized by the calm of the man keeping them aloft. There […]

From LSD and mushrooms to ketamine, journalists are falling all over themselves to proclaim hallucinogens and other less-than-legal drugs the next big thing in psychotherapy. Are they hyped up about psychedelics because they’re writers (you know the stereotype), or because there’s a massive shift in the way medical professionals approach mental health issues? […]

When publicist Yun Yu, 28, wants to clear up her skin, the Alphabet City resident heads straight for the sauerkraut. No, it’s not some secret weird ingredient in a face mask. She’s eating the fermented cabbage because of its slew of health benefits — including treating acne.

Every four seconds, someone in the world develops dementia. Worldwide, an estimated 35.6 million people already live with a form of this neurodegenerative disorder. One unassuming prevention strategy has shown promise above the rest. This remedy is none other than the simple, brain-protecting mineral: lithium.

The dark tunnel of mental illness is inescapable in today’s society. Even those who haven’t suffered firsthand have friends and family members who have, and often dealing with such disorders is nearly as bad as the conditions themselves.

In 2012, scientists at University College Cork discovered that brain levels of serotonin, or the ‘happy hormone,’ are regulated by the amount of bacteria in the gut during early life. In other words, normal adult brain function depends on the presence of gut microbes from when you were a child.

Antidepressants have been a huge success – for the drug companies that sell them, not for the patients who take them. Speaking at a public presentation in Hingham, James Greenblatt, M.D., chief medical officer of Walden, said that because of direct-to-consumer-advertising, patient demand is such that 15 non-depressed patients are prescribed antidepressants for each depressed person who is prescribed antidepressants.

“Thank you, you've never even met me and yet you've changed my life.” That was the sign-off in an e-mail from a man named Mike that arrived at the office of Dr. James Greenblatt, a psychiatrist and the chief medical officer of Walden Behavioral Care in Waltham, on July 24. Greenblatt is not unused to such effusive gratitude, but usually it comes from his patients.